The O.O.A. Institute almost took my life

There isn’t much I can say publicly, for fear of retaliation. They always seems to be watching. And I’m not taking any more chances. Would you?

What I can say is that my visit to The O.O.A. Institute began with a ride in a black van with a hood over my head, and ended with me fleeing through a dark parking lot, covered in blood.

When I first found out about them, it all sounded so intriguing. Secrecy, mythology, the promise of uncovering a path to enlightenment. On the other hand, there was the likely chance that the whole thing was a sick trap set up by a dangerous cult. And that outcome was, in a way, just as tempting. Weeks later, I’m still not entirely sure who these people are, or why they chose me, but I can tell you one thing: they are dangerous.

I was questioned. I was tested. I had many personal things—both tangible and intangible—taken away from me. And I felt special. I was told that I had passed, that I had been chosen to experience the thing we were all ostensibly there to find: enlightenment. Because of my qualities. Because I was different. Because I was willing. But as I started to put all the pieces together that night, catching hand-written notes on medical textbooks, and listening carefully to this cult’s history and belief system, something became very clear to me: this was going to hurt.

My fear reached its peak when they brought me to the surgeon. At least I thought that’s who he was. Now I’m not sure.

If you’re considering a visit to Ascension, which is what they call their little onboarding session, you should reconsider. I went there to see what they could offer me, but it was all about what I could do to help them fulfill their insane agenda. Their goals are lofty, and they’ll go to extreme lengths to reach them. And in my case, when things didn’t go as planned, they decided they couldn’t let me back out into the world. They decided they had to shut me up. Permanently.

I didn’t really understand what I was getting into with these people. But they didn’t really understand what they were getting into with me. They thought they’d silenced me.